After four days of weather challenges and no dolphin sightings, today was the day. The sea was wonderfully flat and although this made things very warm, it was a welcome change over the rough, stormy weather at the beginning of the week. We were all diligently searching for dolphins and then, halfway into the trip, there they were. We knew it was a lot of dolphins, but we were amazed when our count reached 28 Atlantic spotted dolphins! At times, the group was quite cohesive and at others, somewhat scattered. We had two opportunities to swim with the dolphins, the second of which was the longest. Over the course of the afternoon we saw Buster (#04), Lumpy (#17), Split Jaw (#22), Lone Star (#56), Nemo (#76), Speedy (#78), Leslie (#80), Stefran (#82) and un-named #40, 24, 75. I think Billy (#64) was also there! And, I think we’ll ID even more individuals after reviewing photographs and video. In this photo, you can see Leslie and Nemo interacting closely; the water was so calm, I took this picture from the surface! With very satisfied passengers, we headed back to the dock! 

On Friday morning I’ll visit the Coral Reef II again. This time, I’ll have a Q&A session with students from the Chicago City Day School. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say! 

Until next time,

Kel

Wednesday finally looked like the Bimini we are used to: sunshine and calm seas. We departed the dock in mid-afternoon and passengers were soon snorkeling at 3 Sisters. There was some trepidation regarding a nurse shark and lots of squealing when folks noticed the very curious remora. Lots of good fish and snorkel practice for everyone though. As we headed in search of dolphins, we were all confident that we would see many. They must have had other plans though, as we did not see them all afternoon. It is obviously disappointing for the boat passengers, but all understand that misses can happen (even on the nicest day) when hoping to see wild animals. It’s always good for the researchers to remind themselves too! We have very, very high hopes for Thursday so stay tuned. 

Until then,

Kel

Tuesday began with an Intro to DCP talk to this week’s guests, a group of visiting researchers and students. After lunch, it was boat time. Although we still had squalls in the area, it was much sunnier than the previous two days. In fact, on Monday, it the squalls were so bad, they sent us back to the dock less than one hour after we departed. Today, the skies were clearer, but the seas were a bit rough. We diligently kept our eyes open for dolphins, but unfortunately, we saw none. The forecast for tomorrow and Thursday is much more favorable, so everyone is confident we will end on very high notes! 

Until then,

Kel

Thursday morning began early with a farewell breakfast and a mad dash to the airport for Cat & Janan. Thanks again for your hard work! For me, it was back to the solo grind, prepping for the boat and heading out shortly after 1600 with a private dolphin trip charter with Bill & Nowdla Keefe. We didn’t need to wait long and soon we saw a group of at least 18 dolphins! They were slightly scattered so the count was difficult. But, included in the group were Lone Star (#56), Stefran (#82), Tilly (#87) and un-named #84. We had two short swim with these dolphins, but they seemed to be on the move. Soon, we were looking for others and were not disappointed! Only minutes later we saw our second group of Atlantic spotted dolphins, this time five individuals. But, this group was completely disinterested in our presence, so after they ducked and avoided the boat, we left them. And guess what? Only minutes later we saw more dolphins! Nemo (#76), Leslie (#80) and an un-known adult were on the move. They came in for a nice bowride and the guests were able to get a look at Nemo’s “lucky fin.” 

As we headed closer to the island, we saw dolphins jumping in the deep water and later got to see at least seven bottlenose dolphins. While I stayed onboard to collect dorsal fin photographs, the crew and passengers got a super close underwater look. We were all prepared for that to be the highlight of the day and continued back to shore… 

Our ride was pleasantly interrupted by our seventh sighting of the day! This group of at least six spotteds included Split Jaw (#22), Billy (#64) and, I think, Vincent (#11). I can’t wait to review the video to be sure! There were one or two calves in the group and although water visibility wasn’t great (outgoing tide!), the dolphins came super close to us. A great end to the day! 

Until next time,

Kel

We’re not sure where the last four weeks went, but they have certainly flown by! Janan & Cat spent the early part of this week finishing up DCP tasks and cramming in a last bit island exploring and socializing. Then, Wednesday marked the 2010 summer interns’ last dolphin trip! We headed out with a full boat of excited passengers. While we did not get a chance to observe any dolphins underwater, we did have four separate sightings of bottlenose dolphins. Nearly all were in pairs and we got good, but quick views of all of them.  

Thursday morning Janan & Cat will depart and head to their respective homes. They were a fantastic team and DCP is grateful for all of their hard work! Stay tuned for the upcoming Dolphin Gazette for reflections from the interns. 

Until next time,

Kel, Cat & Janan

Saturday was our day off and we were once again surrounded by nature! Kel was awakened by a phone call, reporting that a loggerhead turtle nest was hatching! She raced to the beach to see how things were going and found at least a dozen tracks leading to the sea. As we began gently excavating the nest, we found some hatchlings were still digging their way out. Because of the human impacts to the beach, we carefully collected 11 turtles and placed them closer to the water line (but not too close as we were told they need to feel the temperature change of the sand as they approach the sea). It was amazing! After sunset, Janan and Cat helped with the night-release of those turtles that hatched in the daylight in a bucket. There were 15 baby sea turtles being released, and each of us was given a sea turtle to watch scuttle across the sand towards the ocean.  We got to hold them and put them in the dry sand and then we watched by starlight to make sure each one made it to the water. We are crossing our fingers that at least a few survive! 

Earlier in the day, Cat and Kel did something else out of the box; rather than swimming with the dolphins, we were swimming with the Caribbean reef sharks! There were four sharks gracefully swimming around the coral, seeming to ignoring our presence. Although every once in a while they would swim around us, perhaps to get a better view of the strange snorkelers that were swimming with them. It was a fantastic experience and it was wonderful to observe another aspect of Bimini’s oceans. It also fit well with DCP’s newest Squidoo page: Sharks and Dolphins. Click here to check it out! 

Until next time,

Cat, Janan & Kel

Friday morning we all headed out to the Coral Reef II again to share some information about DCP. This week, instead of high school students, we met with some teachers from the Chicago area. They were a great audience with lots of questions and we were all invited to stay for lunch to continue our discussions! (Thanks for the great meal and conversation!)  

In the afternoon we had a day off from dolphin trips. We headed out on the boat for a fun-filled afternoon of reading, swimming, free diving, and eating with several other families from the island. As we were driving the boat to our beach spot, we saw several manta rays in the shallow water just a few feet from the beach! A few of us jumped in the water to investigate; it was really cool to watch it filter feed in the water! We think there were three altogether. Later in the day one of the kids discovered two small seahorses in a small tuft of seagrass under water. Everyone got to free dive down and check them out. It was the first time we had ever seen seahorses in the wild! Even on a day off wildlife finds us!  

Until next time, Janan, Cat & Kel

Thursday we set off at about 15:20 on our last dolphin trip of the week. Everyone had a great time at the Bimini Road (aka Atlantis) for a nice snorkel and swim to cool off! Then we headed off to look for dolphins, and at about 17:00 we found them! We came across a large group of at least 10 spotted dolphins, including Finn (#09), Romeo (#10), Whiteblotch (#29), Lil Jess (#35), Speedy (#78), and 3 young calves. We jumped in for a swim and even more dolphins joined us including un-named #43. We eventually left the water because the dolphins were scattered around the boat feeding. We watched them feed from the boat for awhile, and then a bit later they started playing around the boat again so we got to try another swim! It was a FANTASTIC swim with lots of dolphins, including the dolphins from earlier plus SplitJaw (#22), Trudy (#57), Billy (#64, pictured here), Tim (#69), Tilly (#87), and un-named #91. They stayed with us for quite some time and even let us observe them mating! Finally everyone returned to the boat and the passengers celebrated with conch salad and rum punch on the ride home. Then, at about 19:00, we even had a quick glimpse of 2 bottlenose dolphins! What a great way to end a super week!  

Until next time,

Janan, Cat & Kel

Wednesday was a great day for dolphins! As per usual we set out around 16:00 with another gorgeous sunny day. The winds were calm and right away we saw dolphins! Three bottlenose dolphins were in the distance, and eventually they came close to the boat so we could check them out. They didn’t seem interested in staying though, so we continued on towards the dolphin grounds, even skipping our snorkel stop! We were rewarded with another brief bottlenose sighting at about 17:00; just one lone dolphin (or so it appeared). Apparently it was leading us to other dolphins because lo and behold 5 minutes later we saw a large group of active spotted dolphins! They were jumping and leaping out of the water! Because the day was so calm and flat we could see them leap and splash far in the distance. Eventually we caught up to them and they really enjoyed riding our bow and leaping in the wake behind the boat. We saw Billy (#64), Speedy (#78), Tilly (#87), un-named #84, as well as 3 playful calves. The dolphins hung around for quite awhile and we had the chance to swim with them three times! The third time was a bit exciting because we were in a sea of jellyfish! The dolphins didn’t seem to have any problem with any of the jellies but we tried to give them their distance! After a great afternoon full of dolphins we finally had to head in under the setting sun. Let’s hope tomorrow is another fantastic day! 

Until next time,

Janan, Cat & Kel